TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 281, 25 November 1915, Page 8

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

'(By INBUSTRUIU TRAMP.) * UNION" MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. J This Evening, November 25— Enginedrlvers, J Boilermakers, Stonemasons, Coopers, p Wednesday, Dec. I—General Labourers. ° Thursday, December 2—Farriers, Nursery t> Employees. A BIG LIST. n Two weeks ago I intimated the fact t> that the Conciliation Commissioner, Mr a T. Harle Giles, had dates arranged right fi into the month of February for hearing s various disputes, and that any unions ( that file disputes, even in the month of 1 December, have a very pooT chance ot ii getting their cases heard in time for s the Arbitration Court, which is due to s arrive in Auckland again about bhe end v of February or the beginning of March; v particularly when ie is taken into con- 1 eidexafcian that after a dispute haa been £ before the Camissioner it must lie for 30 days, where any settlement haa been arrived at, before the Court can deal with it. This ie in order that any party may -have time to consider the settlement, or partial settlement, in order to a object to it before the Court. I have i a been able to obtain the particulars oi i a I the dates and eases set down for hearing, and a perusal of them gives one D the idea that the Commissioner has a most strenuous time ahead ot him, with no spare time other than the Christmas and New Year weeks. The fixtures are aa follows:—November 22nd, Eestau- I rante and Tea Rooms; 24th. Boarding t Houses; 25th, Hairdressers; 29th, Gaa 11 Employees; 30th, Bakers and Pastry - Cooks." December Ist, General Carriers; c &rd, Bakers' Drivers; 6th. Builders' c Labourers; Bth. Contractors' Labourers; c Oth, Meat Preservers; 13th. General Car- E riers (at Hamilton); 13-th, Bakera' * Drivers (Hamilton); 16th, Builders' * La-bourera (Hamilton): 17th. Contrac- ( tora' Labourers (Hamilton); 20th, s Grocers' Assistants and Drivers (Ham- ' ilton). Christmas and N«»"W Year vaca- * tion. January 12th, Builders' Lab- 1 oirrers (Whangarei) ; 14th. Contractors' J Labourers (Whangarei); 18th, Cordial Makers' Drivers (Auckland); 20th, Motor Wagon Drivers (Auckland); 24th, Buildera' Labourers (Auckland); 26th, Contractors' Labourers (Auckland); 28nh, Quarry and Scoria Pit Labourers (Auckland). February 2nd, General 1 Carriere (Rotorual; 4th, Bakers' Drivers (Ratoruaj;; 7th, Coach.. Drivers (Ratorua); 10th, Country Butohera (Hamn- ' ton); 14th, Flax Mill Employees (Auckland); 16th, Butchers (Auckland); 23rd, General Drivers (New Plymouth); 25th, Baikere' Drivers (New Plymouth); 28th,: Grocers' Drivers (New Plymouth). This brings us to the end of February, and for March.' month,"for wKIcTi dates have yet to be feed, Che disputes to be heard are: Bakers and Pastry Cooks at New Plymouth, Auckland Farriers and General Blacksmiths, ani.three or four disp utes at Giaborne. These are all in the • Commissioner's district. It will thus be | seen that the Commissioner has not an idle day, and cannot do more than he is doing, but the Department ought to appoint one of the other Conciliation .. Commi3eionerfi t<QaJce.some of the work r 6£f t danger is that a : union might-file a case at the beginning • of December, and not get a hearing until • after the Court finishes here in March I next. I A COPvRECTION. [ At the iegisning of ths month I made . certain comments in this column on the • action of the Registrar of Industrial i Unions in registering an Auckland union , by telegram "on the day following the . application for registration, which was , also made by telegram, without any ! copies of proposed rules accompanying the application." I mentioned the name i of the union, which was the Auckland . Waterside Workers' Union. In this I have to frankly admit that I made a I f mistake; the name erf the union should ■ have been the Auckland Seamen's and Firemen's Union, which was formed at the same time, and under the same circumstances, as the Waterside Workers' 1 Union. On Friday last a statement from j ■, the Registrar was published in the i f columns of this paper, in which he stated I 1 that my statement in regard to ther registration crt the Auckland Waterside ( r Workers as a union was incorrect. In i i justice to the Registrar, I have to admit j i- that I am not in possession of the facts, i Telating to the registration of the i Wateraiders' Union, and it was through inadvertence that the name of that union was so given. But, in justice to myself, I must also state that I am in possession ot the iact3 relating to the. a registration of the Auckland Seamen's - and Firemen's Union, which took place c the same month and during the 1913 a strike, and these prove unmistakably r my assertion that a union made y application on one day, and was regis- ;. tered on the next, which was certainly i unprecedented in the Dominion. In a feircular issued by Mr G. Wigg, the secretary of the Auckland Seamen's and firemen's Union, a copy of which I have before mc, he states:—"My union was i. formed on the 18th November, regisr tered on 19th November, during the 1913 y. strike, with 34 member 3." In a case ~ recently before Mr C. C. Kettle. S3I-, c in which the Auckland branch of the t Federated t-eamen's Union proceeded rl against the local union for a refusal to h admit-a man named Simpson to its ,f membership, the epeedy registration of 3 the union was deposed to in the court, [ ? and the magistrate was amazed at- the y rapidity with which the union was r formed and registered. The transaction c of the registration shows that the n special meeting of the union, desiring 1 registration, was held on the evening of the 18th, and the wire from the then Registrar (Mr J. Lomas. Mr Rowley's predecessor) shows that it was handed in to the Te Aro (Wellington) telegraph I office at 5.20 pjn. on the 19th. Thie v wire was to the old union, acquainting - its officials that a new seamen's union c had been registered, on tlhe advice of the '-i Grown Law Officer, owing to the memil bera of the old'union being on strike. The meeting to form the new union was f held on the 18th, and the first mail for ; Wellington would be at- 9 p-m. that eveni, ing. That train would be due in Welr lington station at 4.13 p-in. on the 19th, y and ibetween that time and 5.20, the U time at which bhe reply wire was put in at Te Ato —and during this limited « period the letter making the application, i and containing two copies of the rules, y would have to be delivered at the Begisie trar's office, about two miles distant, id and ,be scrutinised by the Registrar and }; Crown Law Officer—the decision to a, register was arrived at and the telegram et dispatched, all in one hour and seven ss minntes. TJim is mervelloue ac a record, it Sportier, in a letter bearing the date of ie December 22nd—five weeks after regisie tration—the then Registrar, Mr John Tr.'ni-a. vrriHn T f 0 fl, n J- 7n i or .. r r

the newly-regietered union, stated that now the strike had been called off probably the union would not proceed with the printing of the rules. The officers of the aid Seamen's Union were ao anxious to obtain, a copy of the rules of, the new union that they instructed their solicitors, Messrs Wynyard and Skelton, to spply under clause 13 of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, sub-clause 2 of which provides:—"A printed copy of the rules of the industrial union shall be delivered by the secretary to any person requiring the same on payment of a sum not exceeding one shilling." For several months tlhese applications were made, •but the reply was that no rules were available. Eventually in April. 1914— five months after the registratiou-e-the solicitors obtained a typewritten copy (not printed), which cost the applicants 12/6 (not one shilling, as provided in the Act). When these facts are considered, I think I have made good my statement that bhe union was registered with a celerity and rapidity unknown under the regime of Messrs Mackay and Trepear. who occupied the position of Registrar previous to' Mt Lomas. SIMILAR "LIES." Thus a West Coast paper, referring to the furniture trade dispute: — An a<reement upon all points in dispute was j arranged upon similar lies to those now awarded in other portions of the Do-; million." Does the linotype operator mean this for a joke? THE SURPRISE OF THE WEEK. Those who closely follow Australian Labour politics learned with surprise of the postponement of the Referenda. Apjparently the surprise will be shared in I Australia itself, since my Labour exchanges arriving this week devote many columns to the vigorous support ot the campaign in favour of the seven issues, six of which were being presented for the endorsement of the people for the third time. Both sides had entered the campaign in earnest, and the platforms and poster hoardings spoke in loud voice to the democracy. The opponents of the Referenda were busy placarding i poster bearing this legend in the walks of man: - "Our Soldiers Cant Vote, but the Germans Can: Therefore Vote 'No.'" Commenting on this, the '-Australian Worker" says:—"Why not "Therefore vote 'Yes'"? It ia a conclusion that would follow just aa logically from the ' premises given. In fact, if the Antiißefs had made their prodigious poster readi "Our soldiers can't vote, but the Germans can; therefore have a drink." it would have complied with the laws of reasoning at least as well as it docs now." It waa very clear indeed that the campaign would have been a particuilarly bitter one. Parodying the poster the " Worker" repeats in large type, "Our Soldiers Can't Vote," and following them, up with the words, " But The Trust Huns Can." It refers to the statement that the Germans can vote by saying that "A fouler lie wasjiever daubed on clean walls." In the interests of the j supreme business of the hour it would ! seem that the first act of the new Labour Prime Minister and his Government is an eminently wise one, especially aa the fable suggests that a way has been found to exercise all the essential powers sought by the Referenda. Nevertheless, I I am certain the comment on the action I of the Government win be very interesting.—Hon. J. T. Paul's " Labour Notes." WAR AN"D SACRIFICE. Some pointed remarks were made by , Mr. Justice Powers when delivering the , judgment of the Arbitration Court in I Melbourne on an application by the ! Federated Tannere and Leather Dressera , Employees' Union for a variation of its J award: — "The war," said his Honor, . ,; necessarily causes loss and self-sacri- , fice, and although the worker is entitled 1 to claim a living wage in times of war, j it is to be hoped those employed in in- . dustries which cannot afford to pay j higher wages to skilled workmen, for j I the Empire's sake, will follow the ex- , i ample of their fellow-workera in Great . Britain and Ireland, who. although receiving lower wages, have apparently , —accepted during the year what can in t fairness be paid. By doing so, they will , j help by their work to keep industries j j going, and to prevent further depression ( > and to bring the war to a successful \ l issue at as rerly a date as possible. In J j Germany, so I am credibly informed j many artisans are willingly working foi 115/ a week for the sake of the Fatherland. Those who object to work at " j rates fixed during the war, and whr attempt to strike, are either imprisoned " by the Fatherland or shot forthwith, oi 3 1 sent to the front. The country thai ' I pays 8/6 a day for labourers in time ol 2 j war, and considers a claim for increase J in such wages in war time, i 3 surelj - worth fighting for. and worth some self sacrifice in a time of need. Some indus [ tries, however, are not seriously affected - Some havi; made larger profite because of the war." T i - NOTES. 1 By 27 votes to 3 the Darling Dowm - Teachers' Association adopted a motior 3 seeking the registration of the Teachers Union wrth the Arbitration Court ii ' order to state a case for the betterment c of the condition of teachers in manj • respects, but chiefly from the salarj 3 standpoint. Of late years members o: 1 many callings have come to view witl ' favour registration under the Arbitra 5 tion law, though this they would at on< f time have spurned. They generallj 'i argue that, though the principal of arbitration - tration by a court may not be appliec 3 advantageously to Jheir occupations i the Act provides machinery for settle c raent of conditions by conciliatory metli ? ods, and, moreover, ensures the obscrv f ance of any agreement made. i The Vienna "Arheiter Zeitung's •' 3 Rumanian correspondent writes of a 1 great open-air peace meeting held ii i Bucharest recently. An attempt to hole 3 a similar meeting a month previously ; had resulted in a conflict with the polic< i in which several persons were seriouslj ; wounded, and 40 socialists arrested. More - than 10,000 persons were present, con . stituting one of the largest gathering 5 ever held in Bucharest. The efforts tc r involve Rumania in the war were da - nounced by various speakers, who wer< - not molested at the second meeting, as , the people displayed a dangerous fight a ing spirit. Resolutions were adoptee a urging the Socialists of Germany to con 1 tmue agitating for peace, callin" upor , the workers in the Allied countries t< !, do likewise, and pledging the Rumanian' i- to fight for a federated Balkan republic ;, One trades union secretary, when fill d ing m his registration form, could noi o resist being something of a wag ft n reply to the question as to whom hi b employers were he filled in the nam< J. of his union, and in his answer to thi <t question as what the occupation of hi 3 - employers was, he stated: " Uplifting th< n downtrodden." He contends that his las